Strange but So Familiar
by pensandink
Summary: Astrid and Hiccup couldn't be more different, yet they can't seem to stop bumping into each other - sometimes literally. [High School AU] [Drabbles] [200 words each]
1. Chapter 1

It was his fault when they ran into each other the first time.

It'd been maybe a month after the crash. He'd been still getting back on his feet (whoops, _foot_) and still getting used to that hunk of plastic and metal at the end of his leg. (He would've said foot, but it's not there anymore.)

That day, he'd been looking down at his feet (_foot_) when he ran into her.

_Boom._ Books and papers and limbs, all over the place.

Well, maybe not limbs. It's what it felt like to Hiccup, anyways.

"Watch it, _Hiccup_," she snarls. (He idly wonders if she means his nickname or the involuntary spasm of the diaphragm. It could be either.)

But the girl – Astrid? – has a funny look on her face, one that Hiccup has seen four thousand too many times this past month.

Pity. And he doesn't want it.

"I don't need your pity," he snarls back, collecting his papers. He's tired of pity. Her eyes narrow and she continues on her way.

He stands up from his half-crouch position. Something makes him look back.

She's looking over her shoulder, too.

Their eyes meet, and definitely not for the last time.


	2. Chapter 2

It's her fault the next time they run into each other.

In her defense, her car was making weird noises somewhere in between her parent's old coffee machine and her little baby brother.

Gurgle, gurgle.

So she took it in to the only car shop in itty-bitty Berk – Gobber's Forge. Why it was called that, she doesn't know.

Why _he_ works there, she doesn't know.

It's just kind of annoying. Like, that kid who looked maybe/sort of/really/super cute in eighth grade is now possibly the smartest, hottest freshman, all over the course of one summer. Not that Astrid's staring at him or anything. (Nope. Not at _all_.)

Although she was sure he was laughing not a moment before, he's curt while talking to her, possibly remembering her from their non-conversation in the hallway. A nod, a promise to get it done, and Astrid leaves with an enormous blush on her cheeks and something of an even bigger crush.

_This is going to make my life even harder_, she thinks.

It was the first time they'd talked to each other civilly; the second time their eyes met – and definitely not the last, if the next months were anything to go by.


	3. Chapter 3

It's seven days, two hours, and four minutes before they meet again.

Somehow, he finds himself in the ice cream shop. He's only partial to ice cream, but it was unusually warm for a November day so he thought _yeah, ice cream is perfectly acceptable to below 50 degrees_ and went to go get an ice cream cone.

(It was freezing, although Hiccup wasn't one to admit it.)

Well. He didn't know it, but Astrid worked at the ice cream parlor.

Her hair was in its usual braid, her bangs falling over her uniform's blue visor. The matching blue apron has a few questionable stains on it – probably from ice cream, although one looks like blood – and she's handing a cone over to a little kid.

He wishes he could whip out his phone and take a picture, because she's adorable.

(But whipping out his phone and snapping a photo would be considered stalker-ish, so he doesn't.)

Her eyes harden, and she snaps, "What do you _want_, Hiccup?"

"Uh, just a waffle cone with rainbow sherbet," he says, although he's inclined to say _kiss you._

_A/N: oh my gods you're great people have a great day worthy of your greatness_


	4. Chapter 4

It was Valka's fault that Astrid took the closing shift.

Valka had said something about attending a school function with Stoick, giving Astrid her big puppy eyes.

She grudgingly accepted.

That's how she ended up standing in a desolate ice cream parlor that smelled too sweet at nine in the evening, her legs numb from the track practice earlier.

She was bored out of her mind, scribbling random song lyrics down on a piece of paper she found in the back room.

She'd just written _"I'm just a believer that things will get better"_ when the bell over the door jingled and somebody entered.

She grinned, happy to _finally_ serve _somebody_, but it was Hiccup.

_Hiccup. _Really?

"I would ask what you're doing here but I'm afraid my mother already told me," Hiccup said, examining the ice cream flavors.

"Your mother?"

He looked at her and arched a red-brown eyebrow. "_My mother._"

Suddenly her mind imposed another person over Hiccup's form – a middle-aged woman with dark hair and the same green eyes.

"Duh," Astrid muttered. "Are you going to order?"

"I'll have a waffle cone with two scoops of mint-chip."

He tipped generously, she found.

_A/N: Believer by American Authors_


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimed._

After the sort-of-conversation at the ice cream parlor, Astrid avoided Hiccup.

Part of him was disappointed – like, what happened? Was he just too antisocial to begin with to understand what was going on?

This psychological torment was definitely a novelty (pun intended) to him.

Most of him was relieved, because Astrid was _Astrid _and Hiccup was… well, _Hiccup. _

The less he had to talk to her, the better; because he seemed to get all tongue-tied and addled-brained around her.

Monday morning the week after the ice cream parlor incident, a note landed on his desk.

The paper was a blue sticky note. Glancing furtively around the room, Hiccup noticed only one person had a pad of blue sticky notes.

Astrid.

Wonderful.

(Maybe he was in denial, because he was actually throwing an internal celebration with party hats and confetti and farting unicorns.)

He cautiously unfurled the note, making sure Mr. Page wasn't looking (the frumpy history teacher had a reputation of having the students read the notes aloud and then using the rest of the period to discuss it) and scanned the note.

_My pity isn't directed at what you think it is._


	6. Chapter 6

_You cannot simply make things go away._

Her mom had told her that once a long time ago, when she'd been less busy and able to talk to her daughter.

It seemed to apply itself to her current situation, actually.

Yeah. Hiccup.

(Since when has it _not been Hiccup?_)

Making things go away was apparently not her specialty, because she ran into him again (she _really_ needs to stop doing that) at the grocery store.

Astrid supposes Ruffnut is at fault, because Ruffnut's the one who keeps ping-ponging back and forth between Snotlout and Fishlegs. Sending Astrid to the grocery store for breakup remedies was her primary fix, even though Astrid usually ends up paying.

So when she slams into a wall of something decidedly alive, she's mostly unsurprised.

(She didn't know Hiccup had such an extensive and colorful vocabulary, though.)

"Gosh, I'm so sorry," she says, slightly insincere, because it's Hiccup's fault entirely that the ice cream and darts fell on the floor.

"It's not your fault," he replies, scooping up his spilled groceries.

He doesn't say another word, and she notices a light blush staining his high cheekbones as he avoids her gaze.

_A/N: oh yes it can _


	7. Chapter 7

He swears it's not his fault. Like, seriously. If it was anybody's fault it would have to be the gods or something because there was no way in Hel that even he could have thought up something this disastrous. (He's actually kind of getting sick of this. No matter how pretty Astrid Hofferson may be it's hard to not hate her when she's kind of constantly in his way.)

It's the Monday after the grocery-store incident (which was on Friday) and Hiccup is feeling pretty confident in his Astrid-avoiding capabilities when, duh, he crosses paths with her again, because Fate is cruel and it's, like. And it's not like it's a small school or anything.

Honestly. Like, because their teacher was being completely unbiased when assigning those project groups, he can't blame anybody now. And it's kind of irritating because he just wants to kick a wall or something because, _frick_, this is getting stupid, this and that and the other thing and it's just like _ugh_.

Because of course, he walks into class Monday morning, into what was formerly his favorite class (science), and is assigned to do a two-month project with - you guessed it - Astrid Hofferson.


	8. Chapter 8

She's pretty sure she's screwed.

She's working with _Hayden "Hiccup" Haddock the Third _on her _science project._

Like, she's screwed for real this time. She's down with serving Hiccup at the ice cream counter and running into him at the grocery store, but seriously? This is a step too far. Even though she would totally work well with him, it's not like she wants to be around him for hours at a time mostly because Astrid has these expectations and generally speaking, if Astrid's expectations aren't met there's gonna be Hel to pay.

(Astrid isn't super psyched about having to do this massive research paper, either. Science was never her thing.)

But part of her is afraid he's going to be better than she ever expected and she's just going to fall for him harder and she feels like she's digging a bigger hole for herself to go die in because from what she can tell, Hiccup is like amazing and stuff and she's not entirely sure she can mentally handle it right now.

Another reason she's screwed – she's already got this weird twisty feeling in her gut whenever she's around and she's pretty sure she knows why. (It's Hiccup.)


	9. Chapter 9

He dislikes it on principle.

First, there's that pitying look. She says she doesn't think of it like that, but he's not sure he believes her yet.

Second, it's kind of irritating. What kind of game are the gods playing? What deity decided to make Hiccup's life miserable by making him have a crush (however small) on a girl he keeps running into?

Third, he's got a crush on her. And as great as it would be to spend time around her, maybe it wouldn't, because he's sure his emotions are plainly written across his face and maybe if they weren't sitting across from each other it would make him feel better.

Maybe.

But right now, that's not his problem. He's trying to ignore the glances that Astrid sends his way, but it's annoying when he keeps glancing over at her. It's difficult, he's having problems, and this silent proximity isn't really helping his stomach, which has decided to implode and explode at the same time. (How is that possible?)

He's trying not to say anything because he's afraid he's going to mess up or something and it's just like _ugh_, because this social thing is really not his forte.


	10. Chapter 10

She's not sure exactly when it happens – somewhere between deathly quiet study sessions and the ice cream parlor – but one day they just… _click._

Like, one day they're completely silent and only communicating where absolutely necessary; the next, they're chatting like old friends (which, to be honest, is kind of weird).

And he's telling her about his cat, Toothless, and she's telling him about her dog, Stormfly, and they're grinning at each other and that twisty feeling in her gut just _won't go away._

Yep. She's really, really screwed.

It's just when she's feeling like she's forever going to be friendzoned (because _obviously,_ Hiccup is totally going to get a girl who's really fantastic and artistic and funny and all of the thing that she's not), she starts noticing a few things.

How she's caught him staring at her _way_ more than once.

How he seems to be short of breath when she tucks her hair behind her ear.

How he stands absolutely still for way longer than he should when she punches him goodbye.

And how she, Astrid Hofferson, known for her steadfastness and lack of inflection, stays up until two o'clock in the morning thinking about a _boy_.


End file.
